Bill availability notification and billing information request

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for presenting billing information are provided. A notice may be transmitted via a network by a bill presentment service provider system comprising one or more computers. The notice may be transmitted in accordance with an e-mail protocol, and the notice may indicate availability of billing information via a bill present service provider system. Subsequent to transmitting the notice, a request for the billing information may be received by the bill presentment service provider system via the second protocol. The request may be received responsive to a selection of the hyper-link. Responsive to receiving the request, at least a portion of the billing information may be transmitted by the bill presentment service provider system via the network.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to electronic commerce and moreparticularly to electronic presentation of an aggregation of bills fromdifferent billers.

BACKGROUND ART

Historically the billing process has been a three party process. Moreparticularly, the typical billing process consists of billers, such asmerchants, utility companies, service providers and bankcard companies,preparing hardcopy paper bills either directly or through an independentbill preparation service provider. The bills normally consist ofdetailed billing information relating to the goods or services purchasedor ordered, including a detailed itemization of the billed charges. Thebilling information also includes the total charge, due date for paymentand, in many cases, the minimum amount which must be paid by the duedate.

The hardcopy billing information relating to each individual biller isthen placed in a separate envelope and mailed through the postal serviceto the applicable payor. The envelope may also be stuffed with othermaterials such as other product offerings, e.g., special discounts ornew goods or services. Hence, each payer has historically receivedbilling information from each biller as an individual hardcopy piece ofcorrespondence received by mail.

Most, although not all, billers bill on a periodic basis, such as eachcalendar month or every thirty days. However, although billers may issuebills covering similar periods of time, e.g., thirty day periods,individual billers may have billing cycles and bill issue dates whichvary. For example, some monthly billers may have a billing period whichextends from the fifteenth of one month to the fifteenth of the nextmonth, while other billers may have a monthly billing period whichextends from the last day of one month to the last day of the followingmonth. Further, even if different billers bill charges incurred overidentical periods, the issue dates of the bills can vary widely.Accordingly, payors typically receive bills at various times throughout,for example, any given calendar month.

To complete the billing process individual payors have historically madepayments directly to each individual biller by hardcopy paper checkdrawn against a financial institution and mailed via the postal serviceto the biller's remittance center. A returnable portion of the billinginformation received from the biller is typically returned with thecheck. The biller must then present the check for payment through thepayor's financial institution before the payment funds can be actuallyreceived by the biller and applied against the payors account.

Systems have been implemented to allow payors to pay billselectronically. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,113 which is assignedto the assignee of the present application, discloses a system forelectronic payment of bills received by individual payors from variousbillers. Recent improvements have been made in electronic bill paymentsystems, such as those disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No.______ (Attorney docket no. 33500-00001) entitled An Electronic Billpayment System with Merchant Identification, filed on Dec. 19, 1997 andU.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/010,193, entitled Dual SourceRemittance Processing, filed on Jan. 21, 1998, both of which are alsoassigned to the assignee of the present application and are incorporatedherein by reference. Such systems allow the payor, using a home oroffice computing device, e.g. a personal computer, to access acentralized payment station, e.g. a server, via a network. Based uponthe payor's authorization, the centralized station can access funds inthe payor's checking account at a financial institution to pay variousbillers in accordance with payment instructions received from the payorvia the network. The payments may be made either by electronic fundstransfer or by hardcopy paper check to the individual billers.

Although advances in electronic bill payment systems have significantlyautomated remittance processing, these systems have not eliminated theneed for payors to continue to receive large numbers of hardcopy paperbills from individual billers. Hence, bill presentment has remained atedious and expensive task both in terms of the preparation and thedistribution of billing information.

Recently, a centralized bill presentation system has been proposed. Asproposed, billing information is forwarded to a centralized system bymultiple billers. The received billing information is accumulated oversome prespecified period of time corresponding to a billing cycle andthen forwarded in a single transmission to the applicable payors.Although the proposed system could result in some reduction in the costof distributing bills, it has numerous disadvantages.

For example, since the proposed system transmits billing information toan individual payor only after bills from different billers have beenaccumulated over a predefined period of time, such as a calendar month,bills which have been issued early in the cycle may be received too lateto avoid charges for late payment. Further, since billing information isonly made available after the completion of a full billing cycle, evenif a particular payer would prefer to review and pay bills on an ongoingbasis throughout the billing cycle, the payor must wait until after theend of the cycle to receive a single batch of bills. The payer willtherefore need to allocate a large block of time after receipt of thetransmitted accumulated billing information to review and pay theassociated bills. Hence, the proposed system is inflexible in dealingwith individual payer demands. Although the proposed system mayelectronically transmit the accumulated billing information to thepayors, because all information is sent in a single transmissionsignificant communications network resources will be required for eachtransmission if detailed billing information is to be provided to eachpayer.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide atechnique for electronically presenting billing information in a mannerwhich facilitates the timely payment of bills by payers.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a technique forelectronically presenting billing information from different billerswhen desired by the payer.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a techniquefor electronically presenting bills in a form desired by a payer.

Additional objects, advantages, novel features of the present inventionwill become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure,including the following detailed description, as well as by practice ofthe invention. While the invention is described below with reference toa preferred embodiment(s), it should be understood that the invention isnot limited thereto. Those of ordinary skill in the art having access tothe teachings herein will recognize additional implementations,modifications, and embodiments, as well as other fields of use, whichare within the scope of the invention as disclosed and claimed hereinand with respect to which the invention could be of significant utility.

SUMMARY DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the invention, an electronic bill presentment systemincludes a memory, such as an electrical or optical storage device, aprocessor, such as a high speed microprocessor, and a communicationsnetwork interface. The system may take the form of one or more serversinterconnected to a private or public bill presentation network, e.g.the Internet.

The memory stores billing information, associated with various billers,representing bills for various payors. Preferably the billinginformation is received from the billers or their representatives, e.g.bill consolidators, via the network interface and is stored on thememory by the processor in association with an identifier of theappropriate payer.

In a typical operational sequence, the processor accesses the memory toread the stored billing information. Using this information, theprocessor generates bill presentment information which corresponds to aportion of the billing information which represents bills for a firstpayor. The processor also generates bill presentment information whichcorresponds to other portions of the billing information whichrepresents bills for other payors. The bill presentment information mayrelate to paid bills, unpaid bills or bills having another desiredstatus, or any combination thereof. The bill presentment information,may be a detailed bill which includes all the applicable billinginformation, could be a summary of the applicable billing information,or could be a simple retransmission of all or some of the applicablebilling information. Some or all of the bill presentment information mayalso be stored in the memory.

Preferably, the bill presentment information includes a summary listingof all bills of a desired status, such as all paid or unpaid bills.Beneficially, the bill presentment information includes a listing ofrespective billed amounts owed by the payor to a number of the differentbillers, which can be presented as one or more pages on a display, suchas the monitor of a payor's home or office computer. The billpresentation information could also include a formatted version of allthe applicable billing information, such as a full detailed presentationof a bill, which can be presented on a display so as to appearsubstantially similar to the conventional hardcopy bills which areregularly received by mail today.

The processor generates signals directing transmission of the applicablebill presentment information responsive to requests for current billinginformation, received by the network interface, from respective payors.The network interface transmits the applicable bill presentmentinformation to the appropriate payor responsive to the applicablesignal.

Preferably, the processor generates a notice of availability of currentbilling information to each of the payors for whom billing informationhas been received by the system and stored in the memory. In thisregard, the processor generates a signal directing the transmission ofeach notice, responsive to which the network interface transmits arespective notice to the appropriate payer. Each notice may be an e-mailmessage addressed to the network e-mail address, e.g. an Internet e-mailaddress, of the appropriate payer.

According to other aspects of the invention, the processor may alsogenerate a further notice of availability of current billing informationand a signal directing the transmission of this further notice to apayer after some period of time has passed subsequent to the applicablebilling information having been first noticed to or requested by thepayor. For example a further notice may be generated if no request forbill presentment information is received for some period of time after afirst notice of availability has been transmitted. An additional noticemay also or alternatively be generated if no notice of payment of someor all of the bills represented the applicable portion of the billinginformation has been received by the system for some period of timeafter bill presentment information has been requested by a payor,transmitted to a payor or viewed by a payer. The network interfacetransmits this further notice to the applicable payor responsive to thesignal.

According to further aspects of the invention, the processor maycontinuously update the bill presentation information based upon the newbill related information, such as additionally received billinginformation representing new bills to be paid or the payment of billswhich were represented by billing information previously received by theapplicable payer. In this regard, the processor, if desired, cangenerate new bill presentment information corresponding to some or allof the portion of the old billing information which represents bills fora particular payer, e.g. that which represents only those bills whichhave been paid or remain unpaid, and the portion of the new billinginformation which represents bills for the same payer, e.g. newly paidbills or new outstanding bills. If, for example all the billsrepresented by the applicable portion of the old billing informationhave been paid, the new bill presentment information would only includethe applicable portion of the new billing information. This new billinginformation may be associated with the same and/or different billers asthe previously received billing information, but would more typicallyrelate to different billers. The processor also generates a signaldirecting the transmission, via the network interface, of the new billpresentment information to the applicable payor responsive to thepayer's request for the then current billing information.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, an electronicbill presentment network is provided. The electronic bill presentmentnetwork includes a private or public communications network, such as theInternet, interconnecting multiple biller stations, multiple clientstations and a network server.

The biller stations each transmit the billing information associatedwith a respective one of the different billers to the server via thenetwork. The network server receives and stores the transmitted billinginformation. The received information is stored such that the portion ofthe billing information representing bills for a particular payor isassociated with that payor. Using a client station a payor can transmit,via the network, a request for current billing information. The networkserver receives each payor request and transmits bill presentmentinformation, which corresponds to an appropriate portion of the billinginformation, to the applicable payer client station via the networkresponsive to the request.

As discussed above, if desired, the network server can transmit a noticeof availability of current billing information to payers via thenetwork. The client stations may transmit, subsequent to thetransmission of a first request for current billing information, one ormore additional request for then current billing information via thenetwork. Hence, applicable current bill presentation information will beprovided on-demand to the payer.

Beneficially, the network server receives notification of the payment ofbills represented by the respective portion of the billing informationapplicable to each payor. In such a case, the network server onlytransmits or retransmits that part of the applicable bill presentmentinformation which corresponds to the portion of the billing informationrepresenting the remaining unpaid bills via the network responsive to apayor request for information regarding outstanding bills which isreceived by the network server after receipt of the notice of payment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a bill processing network in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 depicts a functional block diagram of the bill processing networkof FIG. 1.

FIG. 2A depicts a simplified block diagram of the CF station of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2B depicts a simplified block diagram of an exemplary payor stationof FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 depicts various types of payor stations which can be utilized inthe bill processing network of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 depicts a payor enrollment screen in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 depicts another payor enrollment screen in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 depicts a still further payor enrollment screen in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 7 depicts a simplified flow diagram of the operation of the billprocessing network depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 depicts a payor welcome screen in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 9A depicts bill presentment information which includes a new billsummary screen in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 9B depicts bill presentment information which includes an unpaidbill summary screen in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 9C depicts bill presentment information which includes another typeof bill summary in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 10A depicts a pre-bill payment authorization screen in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 10B depicts another pre-bill payment authorization screen inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 11 depicts bill presentment information which includes a detailedbill screen in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 12A depicts a bill payment authorization screen in accordance withthe present invention.

FIG. 12B depicts a different bill payment authorization screen inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 12C details certain aspects of the bill payment authorizationscreen of FIG. 12B.

FIG. 13 depicts bill presentment information which includes a listing ofinformation related to bills which have been authorized for payment inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 14 depicts a biller category screen in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 15 depicts a screen having bill presentment and paymentauthorization information in accordance with the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 depicts a communications network 100, which can be a private orpublic network such as a wide area network (WAN), the Internet or someother type of communication network for linking biller stations 110a-110 d, payor stations 120 a-120 d, financial institution (FI) stations130 a-130 c and a centralized CF station 140. The biller stations 110a-110 d may represent individual merchants, utility companies, serviceproviders, bank credit card companies, or other individuals or entitiesto whom a payment is owed. Payor stations 120 a-120 d may representindividuals or entities which have purchased or ordered goods orservices or otherwise have an outstanding debt to the billersrepresented by stations 110 a-110 d. The payors represented by stations120 a-120 d maintain accounts with one or more of the financialinstitutions, which may, for example, be banks, credit unions or othertype of financial institution or any combination. Each of the billersrepresented by stations 110 a-110 d may also maintain one or moredeposit accounts in the financial institutions represented by stations130 a-130 c. The CF station 140 serves as a centralized bill processingsystem as will be described in detail below.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the bill processing networkdepicted in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the CF station 140 isinterconnected, via the network 100, with each of the biller stations110 a-110 d and each of the payor stations 120 a-120 d. Accordingly,each of the billers represented by stations 110 a-110 d can transmit,via the network 100, billing information to each of the payersrepresented by stations 120 a-120 d as appropriate through the CFstation 140.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the CF station 140 includes a network interface(NI) 405 for receiving and transmitting communications via the network100. The station 140 also includes a processor 410 and a memory 420. Thestation 140 could, for example, be a high powered work station,minicomputer, mainframe computer or other type of network computingdevice which serves as a network server, or any combination of suchdevices. The memory 420 stores, in area 420 a, biller data such as thebiller's name, remittance center address, deposit account number withone of the financial institutions represented by stations 130 a-130 c,account numbers for respective payers represented by stations 120 a-120d, network address, e.g. an e-mail address, and other biller relatedinformation of each of the billers represented by stations 110 a-110 d.Payer data is stored in memory area 420 b and will typically includesuch information as the payer's name and address, account numbers withrespective billers represented by stations 110 a-110 d, checking accountnumber with one of the financial institutions 130 a-130 c, networkaddress, e.g. an e-mail address, and other payer related information.

The billing information received by the CF station 140 from therespective billers represented by stations 110 a-110 d via the network100 is normalized by the server processor 410 in accordance with thebill presentment software stored in memory area 420 c. Differentportions of the normalized bill information are stored in memory area420 d in association with a respective identifier of the appropriatepayor represented by station 120 a-120 d to whom that portion of thebilling information relates.

The bill presentment software also generates a summary of the receivedbilling information from each of the billers represented by stations 110a-110 d for each of the payers represented by stations 120 a-120 d andstores the summary information with an identifier of the applicablepayer in the memory area 420 e. Bill templates are stored in memory area420 f. The bill templates can be merged with the normalized billinginformation to electronically present the billing information to theappropriate payer represented by station 120 a-120 d in substantiallythe same form, including detailed billing information, biller logo,color and terms and conditions, as has historically been provided to thepayer in hardcopy. Network software is stored in area 420 g of thememory 420.

Once the billing information has been processed by the processor 410 soas to be available for access by the appropriate payors, the processor410 in accordance with the bill presentment software instructions storedin memory area 420 c, generates an e-mail or other message to notify theapplicable payers represented by station 120 a-120 d of the availabilityof bill presentment information. The processor 410 also generates asignal directing the transmission of the message, via the networkinterface 405, to the applicable payers using a network address, e.g. ane-mail address, stored as part of the payor data in area 420 a of thememory 420.

As shown in FIG. 3, the payor 120 a-120 d may be represented by apersonal computer (PC) 310 interconnected to the network 100 by a modem,a television (TV) 320 interconnected to the network 100 via a set topbox, a touch tone telephone 330, a mobile phone 340, a notebook computer350 interconnected to the network 100 by a modem, or some other networkdevice. It will recognized by those skilled in the art that the networkdevice could be of virtually any type capable of receiving a voice,graphic, or textual message. If different types of payor station devicesare utilized, the payor data will include an identification of theparticular type of network device being utilized by the payor. If audiodevices such as telephone 330 or mobile phone 340 are utilized, theprocessor 410 is configured to include a voice synthesizer to generatevoice messages and a voice signal converter to transform received audiomessages into digital signals of processing at station 140 in accordancewith the bill presentment software instruction stored in memory area 420c.

Referring now to FIG. 28, an exemplary payor station 120 capable ofreceiving e-mail messages will now be described. Station 120 includes apayor processor 450 which is interconnected to a memory device 470. Thememory stores the payor client software in area 470 a and the networksoftware in area 470 b of the memory 470. It will however be recognizedthat, if desired, the memory 470 could be eliminated in and that storageof the payor client software could be implemented on the memory 420 ofthe CF station 140. A network interface (NI) 455 interconnects the payorstation 120 to the network 100. Messages transmitted by the CF station140 to the payor station 120 are received via the network interface 455and processed by the processor 450 in accordance with the networksoftware stored in area 470 b of memory 470.

In a customary e-mail notification processing sequence, the processor450, in accordance with the network software instructions stored inmemory area 470 b, directs the presentation of an indicator on thedisplay 460 of the payor station 120 to notify the applicable payor thatan e-mail message has been received. Using the input device 465, whichmay be a keyboard, mouse or other input device, the applicable payer canaccess the e-mail message and request the available billing relatedinformation from the CF station 140.

The notification mechanism may alternatively be implemented directly inthe bill presentment client rather than via e-mail. Those of ordinaryskill in the art will recognize that there may be many possibleimplementations of a notification mechanism.

The payor may request the available billing related information by, forexample, inputting one or more commands on the input device 465.Responsive to these commands, the processor 450 generates and directsthe transmission of the request, via the network interface 455, to theCF station 140. The generated request could, for example, take the formof a reply e-mail message, an instruction to access a web page at the CFstation 140 if the network is the Internet or some other instruction aswill be well understood by those skilled in the art. If desired, thee-mail message could include an icon or other indicator which can beactivated using the input device 465 to automatically link the payorstation 120 to the CF station 140 to access bill related information.

Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 2A, the processor 410 of the CF station140, in response to the request received from the payor station 120a-120 d, directs the transmission of the requested bill presentmentinformation, via the network interface 405, to the applicable payorstation 120 a-120 d. The transmitted bill presentment information mayneed to be generated by the processor 410 responsive to the payorrequest or may be already stored in the memory 420. For example, theprocessor 410 may either retrieve the applicable template(s) andnormalized billing information from memory areas 420 f and 420 d andmerge this information to generate requested detailed bill presentmentinformation. On the other hand, the processor may simply retrieveinformation stored in area 420 e of memory 420 if only bill summaryinformation is requested. It should be noted that by storing unmergedtemplates and normalized data and merging this information onlyresponsive to request for detailed information, the required memory tostore detailed bill presentment information can be significantlyreduced. It should be understood that, in many cases, the payor willrequired only summary bill presentment information, and thus on-lineprocessing to merge the templates and normalized billing informationwill not, in many cases, be required. However, preferably, detailed billpresentment information dynamically generated by merging template andnormalized data may be cached to support re-retrieval requestsresponsively.

Referring again to FIG. 2B, the payor station 120 a-120 d receives, vianetwork interface 455 of payor station 120, the bill presentmentinformation transmitted by the CF station 140 over the network 100. Thepayor processor 450 processes the received information in accordancewith the payor client software stored in memory area 470 a and directsthe presentation of the received bill presentment information on thedisplay 460 of the payor station 120.

As discussed above referring to FIG. 2, the CF station 140 is linked viathe network 100 to various financial institution stations 130 a-130 cwhich represent financial institutions with whom checking accounts aremaintained by one or more of the payors represented by stations 120a-120 d and/or deposit accounts are maintained by one of more of thebillers represented by stations 110 a-110 d. A payor, having receivedbill presentment information, can now request that payment of one ormore bills be made to the appropriate biller(s) represented bystation(s) 110 a-110 d.

In this regard referring again to FIG. 2B, the payor processor 450generates, in accordance with the client software residing in memoryarea 470 a, a payment instruction and an instruction directing thetransmission of the instruction, via the network interface 455, over thenetwork 100 to the CF station 140. Referring again to FIG. 2A, thepayment instruction is received and processed by the processor 410 of CFstation 140. The processor 410, responsive to the received paymentinstruction and in accordance with the bill payment software stored inmemory area 420 c, directs the payment of the applicable bills either byelectronic funds transfer or by hardcopy check.

If the payment will be made by electronic funds transfer, the CFprocessor 410 generates an electronic funds transfer instruction toelectronically transfer the appropriate amount from the applicablepayor's checking account maintained at one of the financial institutionsrepresented by stations 130 a-130 c to the appropriate biller's depositaccount maintained at one of the financial institutions represented bystations 130 a-130 c. The processor 410 also generates an instruction totransmit the electronic funds transfer instruction, via the networkinterface 405, over the network 100 to the applicable payor financialinstitution station 130 a-130 c and/or an originating financialinstitution and or originating financial institution to the AutomatedClearing House (ACH) network or similar financial network for fundstransfer.

The processor 410 also generates, in accordance with the bill paymentsoftware instructions stored in memory area 420 c, a message indicatingthe amount of payment remitted and the associated payor account number,along with an instruction to transmit the message, via the networkinterface 405, over the network 100 to the appropriate biller station110 a-110 d. This remittance advice information may flow directly to thebiller station 110 a-110 d or be routed with the payment through thebiller's financial institution 130 a-130 c, which would deliver theinformation to the biller station. It should be recognized that thebiller station to which the payment notice is transmitted may bedifferent than the biller station from which the billing information istransmitted.

If the payment will be made by hardcopy check, the CF processor 410generates an instruction to print a hardcopy check for the appropriateamount against funds in CF station 140's checking account. Theapplicable payor's checking account maintained at one of the financialinstitutions represented by stations 130 a-130 c is debitedappropriately via ACH (resulting in electronic funds transfer to the CFstation account) or via some form of “good funds” debiting through adirect electronic connection to the financial institution (resulting inelectronic or wire funds transfer to the CF station account). The checkmay be a “single check” remitting only a single payor's payment to aparticular biller, or a “check and list”, combining the remittance frommultiple payors to a particular biller. Alternatively, the CF processormay generate an instruction to print a hardcopy check for theappropriate amount against funds in the applicable payer's checkingaccount maintained at one of the financial institutions represented bystations 130 a-130 c. The processor 410 also generates, in accordancewith the bill payment software instructions stored in memory area 420 c,a message indicating the amount of the payment(s) remitted and theassociated payor account(s). The printed message and check are thenmailed to the applicable biller remittance center. It should berecognized that the location to which the payment notice is sent may bedifferent than the location of the biller station from which the billinginformation is transmitted.

Referring again to FIG. 2, rather than having all operations performedby the CF station 140, certain operations can be performed directly byother network stations and certain information can be transmitteddirectly between the payer stations 120 a-120 d, the biller stations 110a-110 d and the financial institution stations 130 a-130 c. It may, insome instances, be preferred to have the CF station 140 linked to thepayer stations 120 a-120 d and biller stations 110 a-110 d via thefinancial institution stations 130 a-130 c.

For example, it may be desirable in some cases for the biller stations110 a-110 d to communicate some or all bill related information via thenetwork 100 directly to the payer stations 120 a-120 d while the noticesof the availability are generated and transmitted by the CF station 140directly to the appropriate payer stations. This facilitates billercontrol over bill related information which could be stored exclusivelyon a memory device at the appropriate biller station. In other cases, itmay be advantageous for all payment instructions to be transmitteddirectly from the payer stations 120 a-120 d to an appropriate financialinstitution station 130 a-130 c. In such cases, there could be apreference to have the payment instruction processed by the CF station140 or at the financial institution station 130 a-130 c. In still othercases, it may be beneficial for all communications to be transmittedthrough the financial institution station 130 a-130 c but all processingto be performed by the CF station 140.

As indicated above, if desired, all or part of the billing informationmay be retained at the biller stations 110 a-110 d. For example, it maybe desired that detailed bill presentment information be retained at thebiller stations 110 a-110 d while summary bill presentment informationbe stored and provided by the CF station 140. Although billinginformation may be maintained by the biller stations 110 a-110 d, therequest for such information may be directed through the CF station 140to the appropriate biller 110 a-110 d in order to provide a third partyaudit trail or meet other desired objectives.

Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 2A, the CF processor 410, in accordancewith the bill presentment software stored in area 420 c of the memory420, preferably tracks and stores information relating to requests ortransmissions of bill presentation information to payors after thenotice of availability. The CF processor 410 also preferably receives,stores and tracks a signal from the payor stations 120 a-120 d relatingto when a notice of availability bills has been viewed by the applicablepayor. In this way, the processor 410, in accordance with the billpresentation software instructions, may transmit a reminder notice ofthe availability of bills, for example, if no request to view the billshas been received for some period of time after the payor has viewed thenotice or if bills represented in previously requested bill presentmentremain due and unpaid after some period of time. It may be desirable tosend reminder notifications one or more times at fixed intervals, e.g.,weekly, after the initial viewing of the notice of availability or theinitial request for bill presentment information. A reminder noticecould alternatively or additionally be sent just prior to the bill duedate as a final reminder to the payor before late payment or interestcharges will accrue.

Turning now to FIGS. 4-6, the payer enrollment process performed by theCF processor 410, in accordance with the bill presentment and billpayment software instructions stored in memory area 420 c, will bedescribed. Upon request by an existing or potential payor represented bya payor station 120 a-120 d, enrollment interface information iselectronically transmitted via the network 100 from the CF station 140to the applicable station 120 a-120 d. The information is provided so asto be capable of processing by the payor processor 450 and presented inone or more screens on a display 460 of the payor station 120. It willof course be recognized that, although the enrollment process isdescribed with reference to a payer station of the type shown in FIG.2B, the process could be easily implemented with other types of payorstations.

The initial enrollment screen 550, as shown in FIG. 4, includes alisting in block 560 of billers from whom bills can be receivedelectronically. An indicator 565 indicates those billers whose bills canbe received electronically and who can also be paid electronically aspreviously described. The payor using the input device 465 of the payorstation 120 can select any or all of the billers identified in thelisting in block 560 for electronic bill presentation and/or electronicpayment, if applicable. The account number for the payor's account witheach selected biller is inserted in block 562 using the payor inputdevice 465. The payor is also given the option, in block 570, ofidentifying other billers not included in the listing in block 560.Since all billers from whom electronic bills are available are listed inblock 560, block 570 is reserved for those billers, for example, thepaper boy, babysitter, lawn boy, etc., to whom the payor desires to makepayments electronically through the CF station 140 based upon hardcopybills received directly from the biller.

FIG. 5 depicts further enrollment screen 500 transmitted by the CFstation 140 to the payor station 120 a-120 d during the enrollmentprocess. This screen is also presentable on the display 460 of the payorstation 120. This screen facilitates the gathering of payor data whichis necessary or desirable for the processing of bills. Using the inputdevice 465 of the payor station 120, the payor enters his/her firstname, middle initial, and last name in block 510 of the screen 500. Thepayor is also requested to enter his/her social security number in block520 and mother's maiden name in block 525. The maiden name of thepayor's mother is requested for subsequent verification purposes. Thepayor's address is also requested to be entered in block 530. In blocks540, both home and office telephone numbers are requested.

It should be noted that although the payor's account numbers for thosebillers selected from the listing in block 560 of FIG. 4 are requested,in certain implementation it may be preferable to obtain the accountnumbers from the billers as part of the information to be forwarded tothe CF station 140 by the applicable billers selected in block 560 ofFIG. 4. By eliminating the need for potential payors to provide anaccount number, the enrollment process can be simplified somewhat fromthe enrollee's prospective. However, it should be noted that in mostcases it will be beneficial to request that the payer enter an accountnumber for each selected biller.

Turning now to FIG. 6, another screen 600, transmitted from the CFstation 140 to the payor station 120 during the enrollment process,depicts an exemplary portion of a conventional personal check in block610. Within this block, the areas of the check having the routing andtransit number (RTN) and the account number are indicated. The RTN andaccount number for the applicable payer's checking account with theapplicable financial institution 130 a-130 c are entered in block 620.Additionally, in block 630, log on information is entered in the form ofa user name and password to complete the enrollment process.

Upon enrollment, the billers from whom electronic bills have beenrequested and the financial institutions from whom checking accountwithdrawals have been authorized are notified, supplied information isverified and additional information is requested.

FIG. 7 provides a simplified flow diagram which summarizes operations ofthe CF station 140 during bill processing. It should be noted that theoperations are described with the CF station 140 serving a centralizedrole within the bill processing network of FIGS. 1 and 2. Those skilledin the art will understand that the described operations could beperformed as appropriate by stations other than the CF station 140within the network shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, as has been previouslydescribed above.

As indicated in step 705, the CF station 140 receives billinginformation from the biller stations 110 a-110 d via the network 100.The received billing information is normalized, summarized and stored insteps 710 and 715 at the CF station 140. In step 720, the payor isnotified of the availability of bills by message transmitted from the CFstation 140 to the payor station 120 a-120 d via network 100. In step725, the CF station 140 receives a request for bill presentationinformation from the applicable payor station 120 a-120 d. The billpresentment information is transmitted over the network 100 by the CFstation 140 to the applicable payor station 120 a-120 d in step 730,responsive to the request. The bill presentment information may includeonly a summary of bills or one or more detailed bills formed bytemplating the normalized data before transmission. If desired thetransmitted bill presentment information could include both summary anddetailed bills.

In step 740, the CF station 140 determines if bill payment instructionshave been received for those bills represented by the previouslytransmitted bill presentation information. This determination may, forexample, be made at some predefined period after the receipt of arequest for or transmission of the bill presentation information. Ifnot, the payor is again notified of the bill availability in step 720.

Optionally, the payor station 120 a-120 d may be configured to transmita notice to the CF station 140, responsive to the viewing of the noticeof availability by the applicable payor. In step 735, the CF station 140determines if a request to receive bill presentment information has beenreceived for those bills represented by the previously transmittednotice of availability. This determination may, for example, be made atsome predefined period after the initial viewing of the notice ofavailability of bill presentation information. If not, the payor isagain notified of the bill availability in step 720. If a request hasbeen received, the process continues at step 730.

If the determinations in step 740 is positive, in step 755, the CFstation 140 determines if, in accordance with the payment instruction,the bill is to be paid by electronic funds transfer. If yes, CF station140 transmits, via the network 100, an electronic funds transferinstruction to the payor's deposit account at one of the applicablefinancial institution represented by stations 130 a-130 c in step 760.The CF station 140 also transmits, via network 100, a notice to theapplicable biller station of the payment in step 765. If payment is tobe made by check, the CF station 140 generates a hardcopy check with theappropriate account information and directs the mailing of same to thebiller in step 770.

Referring now to FIGS. 8-15, the payer, at his/her own prerogative, canaccess the bill presentment information at the CF station 140 via thenetwork 100 at any time. For example, this contact may be initiated byusing a payor station 120 a-120 d to contact the CF station 140 at a Website on the Internet.

Upon initiating contact with the CF station 140, the payor is welcomed,as shown in FIG. 8, by a screen 800 transmitted by the CF station 140 tothe payer station 120 a-120 d for presentment on the payor stationdisplay 460. The screen 800 includes notification of bills in block 810and of messages in block 820 which have not been previously transmittedto the payer. In this particular instance, no new bills or messages areindicated. If new bills and/or messages are available, the payer can,using the payer station input device 465, click on indicator 810 a toaccess the new bills and indicator 820 a to access the new messages.

From screen 800, the payer can also access either bill presentmentinformation related to previously transmitted billing information,including information relating to unpaid bills or paid bills, as well asinformation relating to previously accessed messages by clicking onindicator 830 a to receive the unpaid bills, indicator 840 a to accessbill presentment information related to paid bills, and indicator 850 ato access other messages. The payor can also select categories asindicated in block 870 by clicking on indicator 870 a. Responsive toclicking on indicator 870 a, the CF station 140 will transmit a screenwhich will be described below and allows the payer to categorize billersin any desired manner.

The payor can also contact customer care by inserting a topic ofinterest in block 860 and clicking on the indicator 860 a.Alternatively, block 860 may offer a pulldown list of selectable topics,similar to block 560 in FIG. 4. In such a scenario, the payor wouldselect one of the topics prior to clicking on indicator 860 a. Byclicking on the indicator 860 a, a message is sent from the payerstation 120 a-120 d to the appropriate customer care station. Thecustomer care station may be the CF station 140 for all topics, or couldalternatively be the CF station 140 for certain topics, the appropriatefinancial institution station 130 a-130 c for other topics and/or theappropriate biller station 110 a-110 d for still other topics.

For example, if the inquiry topic relates to the accounting of certainfunds transfer from the payor's checking account, the customer carerequest can be directed to the appropriate financial institution station130 a-130 c. If the indicated topic relates to a particular merchantbilling, the customer care request can be directed to the appropriatemerchant station 110 a-110 d. If the inquiry is of a more generalnature, the customer care request can be directed to the CF station 140.

The customer case messaging option shown in FIG. 8 and described heremay be beneficially provided on some or all screens presented on thepayer station 120 a-120 d.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, if the CFstation 140 serves as a centralized gateway for all communications, allcustomer care requests could be directed to the CF station 140 and itmay be unnecessary for the payor to indicate a topic of interest inblock 860. Likewise, if all pertinent information is available at the CFstation 140 then all customer care inquiries could also be directed toand disposed of by customer care represented by the CF station 140rather than being forwarded on to a financial institution station 130a-130 c or biller station 110 a-110 d for response.

Referring now to FIG. 9A, as noted above, if new bills are available, asummary of these bills can be accessed by clicking on indicator 810 a.Similarly, if new messages are available, these messages can be accessedby clicking on indicator 820 a. By clicking on indicator 810 a when newbills are indicated, a screen 900, as shown in FIG. 9A, is transmittedfrom the CF station 140, via the network 100, to the payer station 120a-120 d, processed by payor processor 450 and presented on the payerdisplay 460. The screen 900 includes bill presentment information 910which summarizes the new bills which have been received since the payorlast requested bill presentment information related to unpaid bills. Thesummary information includes the biller name, amount of the new bill andthe due date for payment of the bill.

As indicated in FIG. 9A, the applicable biller logo may be displayed aspart of the presentation. The payor is given the option of clicking on apay indicator 910 a, a mark indicator 910 b, or a delete indicator 910c, associated with each summarized billing. By clicking on the payindicator using the payor input device 465, a signal is transmitted tothe CF station 140 to direct payment of a particular billed amount onthe due date. By clicking on indicator 910 c, the displayed billpresentation information relating to a particular biller is deleted. Byclicking on indicator 910 b, the bill summary information relating toone or more particular bills is marked and by then clicking on indicator915 the detailed bill presentment information relating to theseparticular bills can be retrieved from the CF station 140. The payoralso has the option, using the payor input device 465, of clicking onblock 920 to access a summary of all unpaid bills from the CF station140. The unpaid bill summary will be substantially in the form of billsummary 910, but will include a summary listing of all unpaid billsrather than just listing new unpaid bills.

FIG. 9B depicts screen 930 which can be transmitted from the CF station140 to present summary bill related information at the payor station 120a-12 d in a categorized manner. As shown, by clicking on indicator 935,categories of billers are changed in block 940. For example, in screen930 the category has been set to unpaid bills and accordingly, a summaryof all unpaid bills appears on the payor display 460. Other categoriescould be, for example, utility bills, paid bills, questioned bills,credit card bills or any other category which may be desirable under theparticular circumstances. In screen 930, one or more of the check blocks945 can be clicked on along with the pay bill indicator 950 to direct acommunication from the payor station 120 a-120 d to the CF station 140instructing particular bills which are summarized in screen 930 shouldbe paid on the due date. Indicator 955 allows the check blocks 945 to bereset in the event that a block is inadvertently checked.

FIG. 9C depicts still another screen 960 which can be transmitted fromthe CF station 140 to the appropriate payor station 120 a-120 d forpresentation on the payor display 460. As shown, the listing contains acurrent bill summary with payee names 965, total bill amounts 970,minimum payment amounts due 975, payment due dates 980 and bill status985. Indicators 990 indicate that a pre-bill payment authorization hasbeen made with respect to particular bills. Such authorizations will bedescribed below. The status may, for example, be indicated as unpaid, asbeing processed if payment has been previously directed by the payor, oras on hold if the bill has been previously questioned by the payor.

As indicated in block 992, the payor can direct that all billssummarized in the bill summary of FIG. 9C be paid by clicking on theindicator 992 a. Clicking on indicator 992 a will result in the payorprocessor 450 directing a communication to the CF station 140 to pay allof the listed bills by the due date. Alternatively, as indicated inblock 994, the payer can click on the indicator 994 a to direct paymentof the minimum amount due on all listed bills be paid by the payment duedate. To the extent that the payment of bills have been preauthorized bythe payer, clicking on indicator 992 a or 994 a will not affect thepre-authorized payments.

Block 996 identifies the category of billers with respect to whom billrelated information is summarized in screen 960. An indicator arrow 996a can be clicked on to scroll through various categories of billers tochange the information summarized on screen 960, as has been previouslydescribed with reference to FIG. 9B. Additionally, dates can be insertedin block 998 to limit or extend the amount of bill summary informationwhich is displayed. The arrow indicator 998 a can be used to change the“TO” date.

By clicking on one or more indicators 965 a and the retrieve indicator999, detailed bill presentment information relating to particular billsummary items can be accessed from the CF station. By clicking on one ormore of the indicators 970 a and the pay indicator 997, an instructionto pay the total billed amount associated with particular bills will becommunicated to the CF station 140. By clicking on one or more of theindicators 975 a and the pay indicator 997, an instruction will issue tothe CF station 140 to make payment of the minimum amount due onparticular bills.

Turning now to FIG. 10A, a pre-bill payment authorization screen 1000 isshown. The screen is transmitted from the CF station 140 to theappropriate payer station 120 a-120 d for presentation on the payerstation display 460. The pre-bill payment authorization screen 1000allows the payor to identify billers in column 1005 whose bills arepre-authorized by the payor for payment by the CF station 140. Moreparticularly, the payor can designate in column 1010 a fixed paymentamount, a maximum payment amount or an instruction to pay the totalamount due or minimum amount due for any named biller. Further, thepayer can specify, if so desired, in column 1015, a frequency at whichsuch payments are authorized.

As shown in FIG. 10A, the payor can also authorize payment of the totalamount billed for all billers identified by an asterisk 415 in FIG. 4 byfilling in a period of authorization in block 1020 and clicking onindicator 1020 a. Similarly, if the payor wishes to pre-authorizepayments of the minimum amount due on all bills, the period ofauthorization can be inserted in block 1025 and indicator 1025 a can beclicked on. As indicated by block 1030, an indicator 1030 a can beclicked on to direct that notification of and bill presentmentinformation associated with bills for which payment is pre-authorizednot be forwarded to the payor. The payor also has the option, asindicated by block 1035, of clicking on indicator 1035 a to receivenotices and presentations of bill presentment information associatedwith the bills which have been pre-authorized for payment by the CFstation 140.

FIG. 10B depicts an alternative screen 1050 which may be utilized insetting up pre-bill payment authorization. Screen 1050 is transmittedfrom the CF station 140 to the applicable payor station 120 a-120 d.Billers identified in block 1060 and associated account numbersidentified in block 1065 can be changed by clicking on indicator 1055.Alternatively, the payor can enter a biller name in block 1060 and thepayor's account number with the particular biller payments will appearautomatically in block 1065. By clicking on indicator 1070, the payorcan direct the CF station 140 not to transmit notices and presentationsof bill presentment information relating to the particular billerindicated. By clicking designator 1075, the payor can direct the CFstation 140 to continue to transmit notices and bill presentmentinformation regarding unpaid bills of the identified biller. By clickingon indicator 1080 after entering an amount in block 1085, the payer canpre-authorize the CF station 140 to pay bills of the indicated biller upto the maximum amount indicated without further authorization.

As indicated above, the payor station 120 a-120 d can also access thedetailed bill related information stored at the CF station 140. As shownin FIG. 11, detailed bill presentment information, identified withreferenced numeral 1110, is transmitted as screen 1100 by the CF station140 responsive to a request for such information from the payor station120 a-120 d. By clicking on indicator 1120, the payor station 120 a-120d will issue an instruction directing the payment of the bill throughthe CF station 140. The bill can also be deleted from the screen byclicking on indicator 1125.

Responsive to clicking on indicator 1120 at payor station 120 a-120 d, ascreen 1200, as shown in FIG. 12 a, is transmitted by the CF station140. The screen 1200 includes a check 1205 which can be presented by thepayor processor 450 on the display 460 at the payor station 120 a-120 d.The check 1205, as shown, resembles a conventional hardcopy personalcheck. The name of the applicable biller automatically appears in theblock 1210. An appropriate payment date automatically appears in block1215. It should be noted that the indicated payment date may pre-datethe payment due date included on the bill presentment information ofFIG. 11 to reflect when the payment must be made to ensure timelyarrival and avoidance of late charges. The lead time may vary dependingon the remittance method (hardcopy check or various forms of electronicfunds transfer). The total bill amount is also automatically indicatedin block 1220.

The payor can modify the date and amount of the payment if so desired.As an option, the payor can also indicate in block 1225 that the amountshown should be paid to the biller more than once, for example, monthlyor semi-annually. This feature will typically be most useful where afixed payment amount is payable on a fixed periodic basis to theapplicable biller. The payor then clicks on the pay bill indicator 1230to direct transmission of an instruction from the payor station 120a-120 d to the CF station to make payment to the designated payee, i.e.,biller, in the designated amount on the designated date.

FIG. 12B depicts an alternative bill payment screen 1250. Screen 1250includes a check 1255 which is similar to check 1205 of FIG. 12A, butwhich can be used in connection with the payment of individual billsfrom a bill summary screen such as those previously described withreference to FIGS. 9A-9A. More particularly, responsive to the payindicator, in the bill summaries shown in FIGS. 9A-9C, being clicked onat the payor station 120 a-120 d, the CF station 140 transmits screen1250 to the payee station. The check 1255 includes block 1260 in whichan individual biller's name can be inserted by scrolling through billersnames appearing on the bill summary using the arrow indicator 1260 a.The bill due date or a date which allows time for hardcopy mailing of acheck to the biller automatically appears in the date block 1265 for thelisted bill of the selected biller.

In the screen 1250, the block 1270 must be filled in by the payor toindicate the desired payment amount. Block 1275 can be scrolled byclicking on the arrow indicator 1275 a to select the period of paymentas has been previously discussed with reference to block 1225 in FIG.12A. FIG. 12C further details screen 1250 to show that block 1275 can beexpanded to provide multiple options with respect to the payment periodfor selection by the payor.

Once the check 1255 has been appropriately filled out the payor can thenclick on the pay bill indicator 1280 to transmit an instruction from thepayor station 120 a-120 d directing the CF station 140 to pay theselected biller in accordance with information contained in the filledcheck 1255. If, on the other hand, changes in the check information arerequired, the payor can click on indicator 1285 to reset check 1255 andrestart the process of selecting a biller for payment and filling in theamount of the payment to be made.

Referring to FIG. 13, a screen 1300, having a payment list 1305including those bills which have been paid or on which instructions forpayment have been received, is generated by the CF station 140.Responsive to a request from the payor, the screen 1300 is transmittedvia the network 100 to the appropriate payor station 120 a-120 d. Thescreen 1300 is presentable on the payor display 460. The screen includesa listing of billers in column 1310 and a listing of the date on whichpayment has or will be made in column 1315. The amount of the authorizedpayment is listed in column 1320 along with the period at which suchpayment is authorized in column 1325. A payment confirmation number isreferenced in column 1330. This number can be used to identify theparticular transmission or payment of interest should the payor wish tomake any inquiries to customer care regarding the payment. In column1335, the status of the payment is indicated. For example, as indicated,the status may be that payment has been processed or may be pendingawaiting a due date of payment. In column 1340, the payor is providedwith various options depending upon the status of the payment. Forexample, where payment is pending, the payment authorization can bestopped or edited. In those cases where payment has been made, the payorcan make inquiries relating to those payments.

FIG. 14 depicts a screen 1400 which, responsive to a request from apayor, is transmitted by the CF processor 140 to the payor station 120a-120 d. Screen 1400 allows the payer to establish certain categories ofbillers, as has been previously discussed. For example, the biller may,in block 1405, establish categories for utilities, credit cardcompanies, school, tennis related activities and any other categories asmay be desired by an individual payer. By clicking on the resetindicator 1410, the payor can modify the listed categories. The selectedcategories and any changes to the category listings are saved byclicking on indicator 1415.

FIG. 15 depicts a particularly beneficial screen 1500 for billpresentment and payment. As shown, the CF processor 140 transmits forpresentation on the payer station display 460, a screen having an area1505, which includes biller-specific bill presentment information,including the biller name, biller address and payor account number withthe biller in block 1510. The area 1505 also includes a block 1515having the biller invoice number and invoice date to the extentapplicable. A block 1520 presents information which includes thepurchase dates, product/service descriptions and the associated billedamounts, along with the total amount due and minimum payment due. Ablock 1525 indicates the payment due date.

In section 1530 of screen 1500, a check 1535 is shown which includesinformation similar to that of check 1205 which is described above withreference to FIG. 12A, with the exception that the check 1535 includesan invoice number in block 1540 and a click on indicator for approvingthe payment in block 1545. As in FIG. 12A, the payment due date and thetotal payment amount can be modified. An area 1550 of the screen 1500,has indicators which can be clicked on to access other information. Asshown, indicator 1555 a can be clicked on to access other terms andconditions as indicated in block 1555, and indicator 1560 a can beclicked on to access advertisements which the biller wishes to includewith the bill presentment as indicated in block 1560.

An indicator 1565 a can be clicked on to access customer care asindicated in block 1565. The customer care access can, if desired, besimilar to that described with reference to FIG. 8. Any customer careinquiry will automatically reference the particular account numberreferred to in area 1505 of the screen 1500, and may also reference theinvoice number referred to in area 1505. By clicking on indicator 1570a, the payor can determine if payment has already been made as indicatedby block 1570. If payment has been made, by clicking on indicator 1570 aa canceled check stamp will appear on the check 1535 to indicate thatthe check has been cashed.

Accordingly, utilizing the screen 1500, a payor can access allinformation on a single screen necessary to review detailed billpresentment information relating to any particular bill, make payment ofthat bill in a desired amount and access other information, such asterms and conditions and advertisements, which would normally beincluded in a hardcopy mailing of bill. The payor can also determinethat payment of the bill has in fact been received by the applicablebiller. Should the biller have questions regarding the bill or payment,by simply clicking on indicator 1565 a, customer care can be accessed.

It will also be recognized by those skilled in the art that, while theinvention has been described above in terms of one or more preferredembodiments, it is not limited thereto. Various features and aspects ofthe above described invention may be used individually or jointly.Further, although the invention has been described in the context of itsimplementation in a particular environment and for particular purposes,those skilled in the art will recognize that its usefulness is notlimited thereto and that the present invention can be beneficiallyutilized in any number of environments and implementations. Accordingly,the claims set forth below should be construed in view of the fullbreath and spirit of the invention as disclosed herein.

1-95. (canceled)
 96. A method, comprising: transmitting, by a billpresentment service provider system comprising one or more computers andin accordance with an email protocol, a notice indicating availabilityof billing information via the bill presentment service provider system,wherein the notice includes a hyperlink enabling access to the billinginformation via a second protocol other than the email protocol;receiving, by the bill presentment service provider system via thesecond protocol and subsequent to transmitting the notice, a request forthe billing information, wherein the request is received responsive to aselection of the hyperlink; and transmitting, by the bill presentmentservice provider system and responsive to receiving the request, atleast a portion of the billing information.
 97. The method of claim 96,wherein the hyperlink comprises an icon.
 98. The method of claim 96,further comprising: formatting, by the bill presentment service providersystem responsive to receiving the request, the at least a portion ofthe billing information for presentation.
 99. The method of claim 96,further comprising: formatting, by the bill presentment service providersystem prior to transmitting the notice, the at least a portion of thebilling information for presentation; and storing, by the billpresentment service provider system, the formatted at least a portion ofthe billing information, wherein transmitting at least a portion of thebilling information comprises transmitted the formatted at least aportion of the billing information.
 100. A system, comprising: at leastone communications interface configured to (i) transmit, in accordancewith an email protocol, a notice indicating availability of billinginformation via a bill presentment service provider system, the noticecomprising a hyperlink enabling access to the billing information via asecond protocol other than the email protocol, (ii) receive, via thesecond protocol and subsequent to transmitting the notice, a request forthe billing information, wherein the request is received responsive to aselection of the hyperlink, and (iii) transmit at least a portion of thebilling information; and at least one processor configured to (i) directthe at least one communications interface to transmit the notice, (ii)receive the request for the billing information, and (iii) direct,responsive to receiving the request, the at least one communicationsinterface to transmit the at least a portion of the billing information.101. The system of claim 100, wherein the hyperlink comprises an icon.102. The system of claim 100, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured to format, responsive to receiving the request, theat least a portion of the billing information for presentation.
 103. Thesystem of claim 100, further comprising: at least one memory configuredto store the billing information.
 104. The system of claim 103, whereinthe at least one processor is further configured to (i) format, prior todirecting the transmission of the notice, the at least a portion of thebilling information for presentation, and (ii) direct storage of theformatted at least a portion of the billing information in the at leastone memory, wherein the transmitted at least a portion of the billinginformation comprises the formatted at least a portion of the billinginformation stored in the at least one memory.